This article has been corrected from the print version.
Total reported Greenbelt crime has risen 81.8 percent – from 948 reported cases to 1,717 – between 2012 and 2023, according to the City of Greenbelt crime reports.
The most reported category of crime is larceny. The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program defines larceny-theft as the “unlawful taking, carrying, leading of property … [that is] not taken by force, violence or fraud.” The other crimes included in the total reported crime data are murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assaults, breaking and entering, and motor vehicle theft. A murder of a Greenbelt resident would not count towards the city’s crime reports if their murder took place outside Greenbelt.
Although total reported crime is higher, 2023’s zero reported murders equals 2013’s homicide reports. Also between 2013 and 2023, reported breaking and entering decreased 74 percent (from 192 cases to 50).
What Else Has Changed
“When you look at some of these robberies, especially … the ones taking place with juveniles – for example, in 2013, you didn’t have too many fourth graders walking around with a cell phone; in 2023, 2024 that’s common,” said Ricardo Dennis, Greenbelt police spokesperson. “Ten years ago, [expensive electronics] weren’t as common as they are today. What you have is an uptick in certain areas with juveniles stealing more stuff.”
Comparing reports from over the years is difficult, Dennis said. “It’s not the same because the statutes … have changed a lot. Every year they make modifications to the law. Back then in 2013, if you steal something worth $500, it was a felony. Now, it’s $1,500 … the rules have changed.”
Another difference between recent years and the past is the widespread use of masks, Dennis noted. “Everybody [has] a mask,” he said. “Ten years ago, nobody had a mask. Pre-Covid, nobody had these surgical masks on. It just didn’t happen. Now, these kids are like ‘You don’t know who I am if I wear this mask.’”
11-Year Trend
Between 2013 and 2023, cases of reported rape increased 80 percent (from five cases to nine), reported robbery increased 46 percent (from 65 cases to 95), reported aggravated assault increased 174 percent (from 35 cases to 96) and reported motor vehicle theft increased 404.7 percent (from 107 cases to 540), according to the city’s monthly reports.
The prevalence of portable technology, like cell phones and AirPods, contributes to the increasing trend of citizen robbery, Dennis said. “With citizen robberies, we had 57 [cases] so far this year versus 32 this time last year, so it’s gone up by 25, but a lot of that stuff we’re finding is juveniles are robbing one another – stealing the cell phones, stealing the iPhones, stealing the AirPods. You have things that didn’t exist 10 years ago that people are [taking in strong-arm robberies],” Dennis explained.
Crime Increases by Sector
Reported violent crime in Greenbelt Center tripled (from eight cases to 24) from 2013 to 2023, according to the monthly Greenbelt crime reports. Violent crimes, as defined here, are murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
From 2013 to 2023 reported violent crime in Franklin Park rose 50.9 percent (from 55 cases to 83), in Greenbelt East increased 83.3 percent (from 24 cases to 44) and in Beltway Plaza increased 75 percent (from 16 cases to 28) over the same period of time.
Trends this Year
Between January 1 and July 16 this year, Dennis reported, cases of robbery increased 55 percent (from 40 cases to 62) from the same period last year, reports of non-fatal shooting assault have doubled (from four cases to eight) and reports of assault without a weapon decreased 19 percent (from 53 cases to 43). Reports of assault from January 1 to July 16 this year match last year’s reports over the same time span at 71 reports.
During the same period, Dennis said, total reported crime decreased 25 percent (from 1,147 cases to 862) and total reported violent crime increased 3 percent (from 190 cases to 196) from the same period last year.
The Greenbelt Police Department’s Command Staff and patrol supervisors identify areas with higher reports of crime and then adjust patrol units to target those areas, Dennis said.
“The City of Greenbelt, the Command Staff has been monitoring the crime trends when they rise, and we try our best to make the adjustments,” Dennis said. “I think we’ve been able to curtail quite a bit of the crime that’s been happening in the area.”
County Trends
Between January 1 to July 27 this year reported violent crimes in Prince George’s County rose 11.3 percent from the same period last year (from 2,496 cases to 2,778).
County Executive Angela Alsobrooks recently formed a new team of officers: The Prince George’s County Police Department (PGPD) Gun Crimes Unit. PGPD Lt. Paul Gambardella told 7News on Your Side, “What we’re finding is a relatively small number of people committing a vast number of crimes; we’re taking that small number of individuals off the street and, ultimately, going to result in a reduction of violent crime.”
Dennis said he believes that “a few individuals are likely responsible for multiple crimes, and it seems that these crimes were committed by a juvenile rather than an adult.”
Randy Chow is a student at the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism interning with the News Review.